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LETTER 



TO THE 



HON. JESSE D. BRIGHT. 



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Indianapolis, July 2, 1857. 
HON. JESSE D. BRIGHT: 

Sir : — By accident, I have met with a number of a newspaper dated 
Vevay, Indiana, June 24, 1857, containing a very coarse personal attack 
upon me. I do not know the editor of the paper, and I have reason to 
believe that he does not know me. I suspect that he belongs to a class of 
persons with whom I have never cultivated, and do nbt desire to form 
any acquaintance. That he is a petty liar and a hypocrite, the single num- 
ber of his paper which I have seen, furnishes conclusive evidence. That 
he is a swash-buckler and a coward, from the little that I have heard of 
him, and from the fact that he did not send, me a copy of the paper con- 
taining the attack, I believe. Speaking of what he terms "the honest 
party," of which he says I am a leader, he styles me "a poor devil of a 
fellow called Gordon Tanner, who tried to edit a paper last year, and 
went around among our prominent men begging money on the pretext of 
sustaining his silly bantling." Again, in noticing the fact that Gov. 
Wright accepts the mission to Prussia, but that Mr. E. W. H. Butler is 
continued for the present as Secretary of Legation, he says: "But 
Butler remains. Why this ? Where is Gordon Tanner," &c., mention- 
ing other names. "So long as Joe had battles to fight, these tools stood 
ready at his nod — nothing too mean for them do ; no plan of disorganiza. 
tion so treacherous but they would undertake it," &c. Again; "Only 
think of it ! John W. Davis, John G. Davis, Austin M. Puet, Gordon 
Tanner, &c., the leaders of an honest party ! what a startling array of 
talents and purity ! Mr. Buchanan and the Democratic party may as well 



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surrender at once and beg for quarter ! What an imposing bevy of hon- 
esty and ability! We cave, gentlemen, leave us our scalp, we pray you." 
Again: "The sooner they (meaning me and others,) leave the Democratic 
party, the purer will the party be, Go, for the success of the party, go." 

In the same paper, I find an article purporting to be "taken from the 
Hickory Withe" but credited below to the National Democrat, which 
contains an inuendo intended for me, as I believe; but wholly false, who- 
ever it may be aimed at; with regard to the Secretaryship of Legation, 
and some other matters. 

Speaking of the unanimous resolutions of the Democracy of Marion 
County ; of which I had the honor to be the author, the State Sentinel of 
May 13, says: 

"The proceedings of the Marion county Democratic Convention of 
Saturday last have afforded a vast amount of joy and consolation to the 
Journal, &c. It is true that some indiscreet and short-sighted men in the 
Democratic party here used all the influence they possessed to keep up a 
feud between the friends of Wright and Bright; but the more prudept 
and conservative portion of the party, which is as fifty to one, have repudi- 
ated all attempts of factionists. Some men are in hot haste to act on ex- 
tremes when, by short delay and forbearance, all that they could reason- 
ably desire might, and probably will be accomplished in a regular and sat- 
isfactory manner." 

That the free-soil editor of the Sentinel intended to cast suspicion upon 
the Democracy of my friends and myself by the above, is sufficiently 
evident. If it were not, the following, from the Sentinel of June 6, re= 
moves all doubt : 

"What will become of that cry of lamentation over the bad faith kept 
with Grov. Wright, as raised by the sympathetic friends of the Governor, 
and as shadowed forth in the Marion county resolutions, &c. Had not these 
hot headed disorganizers, who uttered such loud complaints of Punic faith, 
waited for the moving of the waters before they 'pitched in,' they woultj 
have seen more clearly than they have done, and saved themselves from 
the reproach of being the authors of 'false clamor.' 

Such are the public charges that have been preferred against me and 
others. I might add some trivial inuendoes from other newspapers, and 
some provoking passages of private detraction and falsehood, circulated 
by persons in your interest; but I let these pass. If other men choose si- 
lently to submit to such aspersions they may; I will not. I shall take the 
shortest way to answer them all. 

The ear-marks of these newspapers show, that instead of being devoted 
to the interests of the Democratic party, they are entirely devoted to your 
personal interests. Personally, or through your emissaries and agents, 
you dictate their course and control their action. You may deny this, 
and they may deny It, as some of them have, — the denial cannot change 
the fact. They have no praises but for you, and your inferior asssociates, 
They have nothing but gibes and sneers for the Democrat who does not 
bow down with them and worship you. Nothing savoring q( manly incie= 



pettdence can appear in their columusj witboitt the imprimatur of some 
factotum of yoUrs. Service of the party, and sacrifices for its success' 
command no recognition from them, unless homage to your sublime inferi- 
ority is added as a crowning grace. 

I know it is your habit to disclaim any responsibility for the conduct of 
your personal friends towards other members of the Democratic party ; 
but when it is known that their traduction and persecution are but the 
reflection of your resentments, and that you and your favorites reap the 
results of all their plots and intrigues, you cannot avail yourself of that 
subterfuge. You must be held responsible. The subserviency of such 
creatures as the Vevay editor — their silly zeal for the advancement of 
your ridiculous ambition — their belief that they are serving yoti by be- 
sliming others with their foulness — their awful reverence and admiration of 
your Platonic intellect, I\Iagliabechian learning, and Demosthenic eloquence , 
as displayed in a senatorial career of thirteen years — the subdued obedi- 
ence growing out of this feeling of awe — all conspire to fix your respon- 
sibility. They are but agents — you are the principal. They are but ser- 
vants — slaves—you are their mastei*. And the law is that qui per alium 
facit per seipsum facere videtur. The rule respondeat superior applies. 
It cannot be expected that men will contend on terms of equality with 
the swarm of emasculate sycophants who fawn upon you, ready to lick 
your hands for some menial office, or some miserable pittance of public 
plunder. You cannot skulk unseen behind a venal crew of scribbling para- 
sites, and direct them where to spit their borrowed venom. No Sir! 
You must silence these petty calumniators, or the scourge shall be laid 
to your shoulders. You will be dragged out from behind the screen 
where all your plots are hatched, and the secrets of your laboratory ex- 
posed. The lash of ridicule, and the shafts of satire wiU soon strip you 
of all those factitious airs by which you have so long concealed your 
ignorance, and your avarice. 

You will discover that even at a time like the present, 

"When knaves and fools combined o'er all prevail, 
When Justice halts, and Right begins to fail ; 
E'en then the boldest start from public sneers, 
Afraid of shame, unknown to other fears ; 
More darkly sin, by satire kept in awe, 
And shrink from ridicule, though not from law." 
You receive the benefits of their villenage, and you shall pay the pen- 
alty of their insults. It is that you may be trumpetted into power, that 
others are cried down. It is that you may continue to be the recipient 
of undeserved honors — the non-performing stipendiary of a disgraced 
constituency — a full-fed pensioner upon party bounty — that you have 
unleashed this yelping brood. 
But let me answer their charges. 
1. "A poor devil of a fellow called Gordon Tanner." 



This I suppose I must submit to. I am lean. I have not been able td 
increase my caul-fat and round up my stomach by luxurious living. I am 
poor. I have not been for twenty-five years an impotent and idle incum- 
bent of public offices. I have no millionaire for patron and partner. — ■ 
Above all : I have not learned that golden secret of magic art, by which 
a man, it seems, may become the proprietor of untold wealth, by unknown 
and indiscoverable means, in a very few years. 

2. " Who tried to edit a paper last year. " 

Most people thought I succeeded. At all events, I trust you wiU allow 
that I am improving in the use of "that mighty instrument of little men/' 
with which political bubbles are pricked, presidents made, and pretenders 
put to shame. 

3. " And went around among our prominent men, begging money on 
the pretense of sustaining his silly bantling. " 

Aye ! there's the point. For answer to this I refer you to the action of 
the last Democratic State Convention, ordering the publication of that 
same paper; to the action of its committee in choosing Wm. Culley and 
myself its editors ; to the universal acknowledgement of its ability on the 
part of the local press of the State ; and to the failure of the State Cen- 
tral Committee, under the imbecile management of its chairman, to pro- 
vide for its support. I will add what I can easily prove, that I printed 
the paper for three or four weeks at my own expense, to keep it from 
going down before the October election, and that I lost more money upon 
it, than youy or either of the "prominent men" your minion speaks of, lost 
upon the entire canvass, counting the amounts yon won upon the result. 

4. "But Butler remains! Why this? Where is Gordon Tanner?" 
To the exclamation I answer, — Yes ! To the first question I answer,—- 

because president Buchanan would have it so. To the second question 
I answer, — I am at home, where I intend to stay, discharging the duties of 
an office, (more honorable, and more profitable than Mr. Butler's,) which 
was generously conferred upon me by the people. I will answer further, 
that I have never applied for any appointment of any kind in my life, 
much less for that of Secretary of Legation at Berlin, which I would not 
have. Gov. Wright, to my certain knowledge, recommended Thomas B. 
Holcombe, Esq., late Democratic editor of the Sentinel for that position. 
That recommendation I most heartily approved, because I knew no man 
of higher qualifications for the post. I also know for myself and not from 
another, the president's reasons for retaining, for the time being, the pres* 
ent Secretary. If necessary I will give thefti. But for the present, it is 
enough to say that they are honorable to the J)resident, and satisfactory to 

the minister. 

5. The rest of this slang, I shall answer pretty much in a lump. 

First, I am charged with being Joe Wright's tool. Some of your friends 
say that I am his master. When you have instructed them all which to 



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call me, I ■will answer the charge to your satisfaction : fbr the presebt 1 
dismiss it -with the remark that I am neither: Secondly, your creature 
ridicules the idea that Hon. J. W. Davis, Hon. Jno. G. Davis, Gordon 
Tanner, &c., can have either honesty, talents, or influence^ — proposes that 
the party surrender to us, president and all, and with as much irony as a 
hired flunky can counterfeit, implores us to spare his scalp. These gen- 
tlemen can take care of themselves. As for mej if my neighbors think 
me honestj the howl of your whole pack at my heels would hardly change 
their opinion. If I have no ability, you may rejoice that it is so, for what 
I have will not be devoted to screening your inferiority, or ministering to 
your ambition- Purity, I have not the hypocrisy to claim j but you have 
neither the ingenuity to tempt, nor the wealth to buy me. As for talents, 
the gibe that I have none, comes with iU grace from "thfe trifling head and 
the contracted heart," which can play second fiddle — nay, become mere 
intellectual menial and scavenger — to a man whose Only distinguishing 
points of excellence are the muscles of an ox, and the principles of a 
weasel. From me, his scalp is in no danger. I do not wish to load my- 
self with such fragrant trophies. His resemblance to that spotted little 
animal which, like the Parthian cavalry, does its enemy most scath as it 
flies, and is protected from harm by its littleness and its stink-^^vill save 
that vet-y tender part of his teguments from my knife. 

But, thirdly, the most absurd undertaking of your devotfees, is that 
darling one most flattering to your vanity, to-wit, their bootless attempt to 
read out of the Democratic ranks, all who refuse to recognize you as the 
idol of their party fealty, and the touchstone of their party faith. The 
star-eyed goddess of Democracy will be fallen low indeed, when you are 
installed as her high-priest. What have you done ? What great princi- 
ple have you announced ? What great system of party policy have you 
enforced, that we are to accept you as the embodiment of Democracy ? 
On the contrary, have you not flinched in every contest, and failed on 
every issue ? Are we to be kicked out of the party because we do not 
applaud you for ct)urage that you have never exercised, talents that you 
have never shown, and fair tactics that you have seldom pi'acticed ? 

It is a little singular, too, that corruption cannot be denotmced, but 
your friends resent it as an attack upon you. They style me a "disorgan- 
izer" — and why ? Because I introduced the Marion couhty resolutions ! 
Because I refused to bow in base submission to a half-sUccessful regime of 
fraud and plunder, which serpent'-like, has already insinuated its gilded 
folds into our ranks, and bound fast some of the strongest arms that once 
were free to strike for the honor of the Democratic party! But my 
alleged disorganization is not platted on that ground. They who make the 
charge have never had the hardihood directly to assail a single principle 
of the creed adopted by the Democracy of this county. They dare not 
do it ! No. The treason lies in the fact that I have shown a disposition 



6 

which renders it imprdbable that I -will be yoiir too!, or^a confederate of 
your sattellites. This is the disorganization — -the treason which Offends 
yoiir league of party vampires. You could oppose, in your feeble way, 
one Democratic administration from beginning to end : all right. You caii 
cooUy attempt to deceive and cajole another, with the same impunity^ 
But if a Democrat, whose most withering political shame it has been 
to assist in placing you where you are, should refuse to worship his own 
bungling handiwork, he must be denounced as a traitor! Your vassals, 
at your bidding — for they do nothing without it— exalt you above presi- 
dents and cabinets ; and you, giddy with the Pickwickian elevation, pleas- 
antly assume to treat your Democratic constituents as the Brazilian planter 
treats his slaves. Of course the groundlings who swarm around you, 
(as moths flutter around a farthing candle,) for the sake of the crumbs of 
favdr you have the graciousness occasionally to toss them, are not capable 
of shame; but you ought to be ashamed of such egregious presmption- 
You should not permit them to make you ridiculous by claiming for you a 
position for which Nature has not endowed you, and to which all your sul>= 
tlety — ^^nd it is great — will never raise you. 

But ridiculous as these pretentions seem to me, and plainly as the smart 
of injury prompts me to speak to you, I would not have you think that I 
underrate you. In the management of your selfish interests, the study 
and devotion of many years have given you a skill that few men ever ac-» 
quire. You have learned to make position ancillary to wealth, and to use 
wealth in turn for the furtherance of ambition. You are skilled in the 
coarser arts of leadership, and know well how to rule the timid and the 
base, and to turn the malignant passions of the human breast against 
your foes. I will say more of you: you have in high perfection those 
abilities which, if coupled with the graces of mind, heart and education, 
would make you what you wish to be considered — namely, a great man. 
But to the despotic and destructive will of a Nero and the malicious cun^' 
ning of a Machiavel, you link the feeble addition of the intellectual friv* 
ollty of a Caligula, and the gladiatorial tastes of a Commodus. I do 
you the justice to acknowledge that you have precedent for your pre- 
sumption, and stimulating encouragement for you ambition. Agamemnon, 
though a "dog in forehead," was "the king of men," and Ajax, at once an 
ass in intellect and a behemoth in strength, was a hero on the fields of 
Troy. And if the destroyer of Priam's race won everlasting fame, and 
the rival of Hector was inunortalized in song, what glories must await the 
bloodless victor of unfought fields! — the renowned hero of a single 
speech ! — the "illustrious conqueror of common sense !" 

But I have done. " What is writ is writ." I know the consequences. 
"Cheer on the pack! the quai-ry stands at bay!" 

I have followed the first public insult with the first public revenge. In 
the language of the Mingo chief, "I have fully glutted my vengeance.'* 



But every repetition of the injury shall be followed by a like revenge, 

"Your men in buckram shall have blows enough, 
And feel they too are 'penetrable stuff:' 
And though I hope not hence unscathed to go, 
Who conquers me shall find a stubborn foe." 
So long as You keep your scribbling spaniels in their kennels, 
"So long shall last thine unmolested reign, 
Nor any dare to take thy name in vain." 
But if you unleash upon me that 

"Coward brood, which mangle qs they prey, 
By heUish instinct all that cross their way, 
Aged or young, the living or the dead," — 
You may expect to hear from me again. 

But to be serious, and to drop poetry, (I make no extra charge for it,) 
and take up the sober line of prose : you may choose peace or war 
henceforth. If your minions are silent, so mote it be : you shall have 
peace. If, as I expect, they are turned loose upon me, you shall have 
war. Even my enemies admit that, when I try, I can write the English 
language, — I am sorry, for the honor of Indiana, that your best friend 
cannot pay you the same compliment, — and if necessary, I will sum up 
upon you once a month. If my name is to be rolled under the tongue of 
caliunny and slander, it shall be my fault if I do not make yours the 
watch-word of derision and contempt. If I am made the target of malice 
and hate, you shall pay a bitter penalty for a temporary triumph. It will 
be an easy thing for a man "envenomed by irrevocable wrong," to make 
you the butt of ridicule — the laughing stock of a nation. 

GORDON TANNER, 

P. S. As you publish private letters addressed to you by your friends, 
I have concluded to print this before sending it, in order that I may see 
the proofs while I am living, as I have lately been taught that a certain 
kind of greatness is not ashamed to wrong the dead, 



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